Some of you may remember Llewellyn’s Tarot Calendar, 2000-2001, or our tarot almanac, The Tarot Reader, 2006-2008. Sadly, while they were awesome (in my opinion), they didn’t quite work. But at Llewellyn we love annuals and we love tarot, so we never really let go of the desire to create some sort of tarot annual.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be brainstorming and kicking around ideas about this. Join the discussion. Share your comments and ideas. If you are familiar with the annuals mentioned above, tell us what you liked and what you didn’t like. What would be useful? What makes a tarot annual? What is the best way to connect tarot to the idea of a year…or should we scrap that idea entirely? If we don’t tie tarot to the idea of the year, what would make it an annual? Most of our annuals are tied to the year. I believe only our Herbal Almanac is not, and yet that one seems to work well. I wonder why.

Reader Comments

I don’t think it needs to be associated with an actual calendar. Personally I would love to have a reference about the various meanings and interpretations of the cards. Articles, histories, and images of the different types of cards and the different images. Don’t forget the reversed meanings.

I’m thinking about a Tarot Journal, with a place for the user to record a Card-of-the-Day. Short articles, spreads, Tarot spells, in-depth analysis of particular cards, arrainged appropriately on the Wheel of the Year. For instance, an article on using the Tarot to communicate with those who have passed on would appear at the end of October, for Samhain. A spread for a couples reading might appear in May, for Beltane.
Articles about Tarot History could appear corrosponding to important dates, such as birthdays or publication dates.

If you include sabbats with tarot views, make it also South Hem. friendly.
If you combine it with the 4 elements you could have the 365 days with a Tator card regent, and the Fools journey trough the year 5th element.
or combine it with the 13 full moon calendar for magick, meditation, devotion… etc.
Or even, divide it into two sections: Dark Half – light half. Ruled by the male and Female archetypes of the Arcana as part of the universal balance.
Your could make a design that includes the complete deck or mayor arcana. Allowing to cut off a Tarot card per day for meditation.
Bright Blessings.

What about doing one of those “un-calendar” or perpetual calendars? Have all of the tarot info like the almanacs have, but not with a specific year attached to it. That way, the basic sabbats/holidays are still there, but one can use the same book over and over with all of the information in it.

What I’d really like is something that can easily be put into a 3 ring binder as part of a BOS, to be honest. I’ve spent many hours retyping things from books for just this purpose…

Christine, thanks! I like the idea of matching articles and/or spreads to the seasons/important dates/etc. rather than the cards. I always felt things got sticky or seemed contrived when we tried to match cards with dates.

AJ, I like the perpetual calendar idea…if it could full color, lovely paper, a real treasure, although I’m not sure it is something that would be published each year, so it wouldn’t be an annual…but it could still be a very nice product. What go me really excited is the idea of having something that can be put into a BOS. Not sure why, as I usually rip things out of annuals or photocopy them for my BOS or journal. But I it seems like there is something there. Hmmmm. Thank you

Actually, this is off-topic, but will the publisher ever do a day-runner type of Witches’ Date Book? I know that by half-way through, my covers and several pages are badly damaged, and I wonder how it is for others. Many Thanks!

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